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Aviation leaders want cheaper antigen or lateral flow tests to be used to restart travel
Pressed on comments from easyJet chief Johan Lundgren that the current cost of testing could price many people out of overseas leisure travel altogether, Johnson on Tuesday (6 April) said the government would look to make the country’s inbound testing requirements “as flexible and as affordable as possible”.
At present, those travelling to the UK can take a lateral flow test to satisfy the government’s pre-departure testing requirement. However, the tests required on day two and day eight of their 10 days’ self-isolation must be PCR tests.
Tim Alderslade, Chief executive of Airlines UK, the trade body for UK registered airlines, and Karen Dee, chief executive of the Airport Operators Association, have written to the prime minister to stress the importance of using “cost-effective, rapid Covid-19 tests” as part of the government’s efforts to restart international travel.
Alderslade and Dee said a transition to a different testing standard, the type of which will be used to unlock parts of the UK’s leisure and hospitality industries, would be particularly important to restart travel from lower risk “green” countries under a new traffic light system set to be rolled out later in the spring.
“Airlines and airports are concerned about indications that travellers even from green countries would still require both pre-departure and post-arrival tests of an unknown specification, but possibly PCR,” said the duo in their letter to the PM.
It comes after Lundgren noted a single PCR test would likely cost more than an average easyJet fare; under current travel rules, each traveller could be required to take up to four PCR tests as part of their journey – one outbound, one pre-departure prior to a return flight, and two upon return to the UK.
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